Under the City Lights
by xxTeh-Ninja
Summary: (Hollywood!AU, Actor!Lavi X Model!OC) Hoshi, Lenalee, Allen, Kanda, Krory, Miranda, and Lavi were all childhood friends who went to the same acting school. Lavi's Grandfather (Bookman) decided friendship was distracting him from his acting career so they up and moved in highschool. Now, 4 years later, the 7 friends all live in LA. Will Lavi ever be allowed to have a social life?
1. Chapter 1

"Bleh, LA kinda sucks..." I sighed, roaming the halls of the building in a poor attempt to find my new apartment.

"Oh c'mon Hoshi! Aren't you happy to see everyone again?" My twin sister and roommate, Lenalee spoke cheerily.

"Of course I am! Kinda nervous though..." I trailed off.

"I'm sure you're plenty happy with the fact that you're local to Lavi again though, hm?" She grinned at me knowingly.

"I-I don't have the slightest idea what you're implying!" I frowned, silently cursing at myself for the stuttering.

"Yeah, what ever you have to tell yourself~!" She giggled and decided to drop it thankfully.

* * *

We had finally found the apartment and had started to unpack our tilting tower of boxes.

 _ **READY STEADY CAN'T HOLD ME BACK!**_

 _ **READY STEADY GIVE ME GOOD LUCK!**_

 _ **READY STEADY NEVER LOOK BACK!**_

 _ **LET'S GET STARTED READY STEADY GOOOO!**_

"Oh, Allen's calling." I stated hearing the theme from my pocket.

"Really? You gave him the theme song from that anime?" Lenalee sighed and shook her head.

"Of course, him and Ed both have a short complex! ...Never tell him I said that though.."

I finally answered the phone and heard the cheery voice of our child-hood friend on the other end.

 _"Hoshi! I heard you and Lena are in town?" He asked excitedly._

"Yeah, we're in the process of moving into our apartment as we speak! Hold on, I'm gonna put you on speaker."

I fumbled with the small cellular device to activate speaker.

"Hey Allen!" Lena chimed.

 _"Hey! Why don't we all get together soon? We'll bring the whole group back together to celebrate you guys getting here!" Allen suggested, sounding pleased with himself._

"Everyone?" I asked, trying to mask my hope.

 _"Well...maybe not Lavi, I don't hear from him often...sorry, Hoshi."_

"It's ok. Maybe he'll surprise us, and even if he doesn't we can have fun without him!" Lena patted my shoulder.

 _"ALLEN! BRING ME ANOTHER BEER...AND THAT SANDWICH YOU'RE MAKING!"_

 _"BUT IT'S MY PRE-DINNER SNACK!"_

 _"I DON'T CARE, I WANT IT!"_

 _"BUT CROSS-! Ugh, I gotta go guys, I'll text you details when I know what's up!"_

 _"ALLEN I'M HUNGRY DAMNIT!"_

 _"I'M COMING YOU DRUNK BASTARD!"_

 ***click***

"He hung up on us..."

"I guess Allen still lives with his dad's friend, Marian Cross." Lena spoke up.

* * *

Like I had told Hoshi and Lenalee I texted everyone: Kanda, Miranda, Krory...even Lavi. They had all responded except for the red-headed actor.

Staring at my phone I sighed and gave it one more try, my fingers hitting the screen to type out the message.

 _'Hey, I know you're busy and your Grandpa is strict but we all really miss you, so if you can show up tomorrow it'd mean a lot to everyone! No one's seen you in years.'_


	2. Chapter 2

"Why can't I go!? I miss my friends!" I questioned angrily.

"Lavi, you get too distracted by them. The answer is 'no' and that's the final words I'll speak on this matter!" Gramps yelled back.

"Stupid panda-geezer!" I grumbled, slamming the door to my room shut in his face, locking it and plopping down onto my bed with a frustrated groan.

I looked down at my phone, deciding not to respond to Allen and just place it on the night stand.

"I wonder what Hoshi and Lena are up to..."

Poor Hoshi, she had cried when I told her I was moving away...we had been closest to each other out of the entire group though so I should have expected it.

I wonder what she looks like now, what's she been doing with her life, and if she's happy. I really missed everyone, but I missed Hoshi, my best friend the most.

Without Gramps knowing I've been keeping in contact with Allen this whole time, but we rarely talk, maybe once every few months.

"I just gotta find a way to see her someday...to see all of them." I whispered while staring at the white ceiling.

I pushed up off my bed, striding over to my desk. I spun in the chair briefly before reaching out and quickly typing facebook into the address bar on the internet page.

"I kinda feel like I'm stalking everyone..." I frowned but continued checking out everyone's pages.

"Hmm what has Yuu been doing?"

Boooooring. Martial Arts, male modeling, being angsty off and on.

Time to do some digging on Krory and Miranda. They seem to like tagging each other a lot...

Onto Lena and Hoshi.

Posts about cute baby animals all over Lena's page and some posts complaining about Komui, all of which he had commented on.

I continued scrolling, my eyes settling on a post from about a week ago.

 _' **Hoshi** and I are moving to LA! Can't wait to see all our old friends.'  
_

"WHAT!?" I brought my face close to the screen, eyes scanning it from behind my hair.

"They're gonna be here?" My eyes went wide as I read through the comments.

 _'When will I get to see my precious little twins again!? I miss you both so dearly!' - Komui_

 _'Soon! Hoshi landed a modeling contract!' - Lenalee_

 _'That's wonderful, maybe she'll end up working with Kanda?' - Miranda_

 _'Tch, better than being stuck in one of short stack's music videos' - Kanda._

 _'Can't wait to see you both. AND WHAT DID YOU CALL ME YOU LIMP SOBA NOODLE!?' - Allen  
_

 _'Go back to your stalk, bean sprout.' - Kanda_

 _'Come one guys, shouldn't we be congratulating Hoshi?' - Krory_

 _'Lol. You guys haven't really changed much. We can't wait to see all of you! We'll be arriving in LA tomorrow.' - Hoshi_

"Tomorrow...?" I wondered with a chuckle at the group's antics in the comment section.

Then I saw the time stamp from Hoshi's comment...

"THEY'RE HERE TODAY!?"

Then it hit me. "Allen really meant **everyone**..."

* * *

I stared at my phone, already having expected no answer from Lavi. Oh well, I guess I should start planning it without him in mind.

I heard my keyboard playing suddenly. I spun around to see Timcanpy hopping around on the keys.

"Tim...what are you doing?" I smiled and picked up the small canary.

He hopped a few times and chirped happily at me.

"Aww." I snuggled my face against him.

"ALLEN!" Cross stormed into my room.

"Hm?" I questioned, still nuzzling the cute yellow bird.

"I'm going out." He stated simply.

"Again!? Isn't that gambling debt of yours high enough?" I asked him, so done with the situation.

"So you're going out with friends tomorrow? I heard you on the phone." He quickly changed the topic.

"Yeah, so? I'm 17 now, I can go out if I want to!" I glared at him a bit.

He glared right back at me, "17, meaning still under aged and my responsibility."

"Yeah, fine." I frowned.

"Allen I think it's an important time for us to sit down and have a talk."

"NO, NO, NO! WE ALREADY HAD THAT TALK TWICE LAST MONTH!"

"Not _that_ talk, I'm talking drugs, smoking, and alcohol."

"You already do two of the three!" I whined at him.

"Well, all three when I was your age actually...but that's beside the point!"

"What? It was meth or something, wasn't it?"

That earned me another glare, "Good ol' Mary Jane, but still not the point."

"Then what is the point?" I asked, arms crossed.

"The point is, as delicious as pot brownies are, say no to drugs."

I groaned and face-palmed "Weren't you going somewhere?"

He ran from my room and out the door, singing something about someone named 'Roxxie'.

"I really hope he doesn't bring another hooker home..."

"Roxxie is an elegant REFINED woman!" He scolded as he peaked his head back into my room.

"Last time you brought home an _'elegant refined woman_ ' she knocked you out in the bathtub and was gonna take your kidney."

"But you stopped her, so all is good!" He waved at me dismissively.

"You're lucky I was home old man. No more hookers in the house, please?" I begged.

"Aren't you supposed to be planning a get together?" He quickly changed the topic again, shutting the door before I could argue anymore.

* * *

"HYAH!" With a shout I kicked the weighted target over.

 _Short people got no reason_  
 _Short people got no reason_  
 _Short people got no reason_  
 _To live_

 _They got little hands_  
 _And little eyes_ _And they walk around  
Tellin' great big lies-_

"Kanda! You're phone is ringing!" A guy said as he walked out of the locker room, my phone in hand.

"Damn midget." I growled, kicking a target so hard my leg got stuck in it.

"He broke another one!" The guy from before whispered to the sensei.

I stuck my hand out expectantly and he handed me my phone.

 _They got little noses_  
 _And tiny little teeth_  
 _They wear platform shoes_  
 _On their nasty little feet-_

I answered the phone after storming into the locker room, "WHAT!?"

 _"Hi Kanda!" Allen's cheery voice spoke._

"I'll say it again - WHAT?"

 _"Hoshi and Lenalee just moved to town and I need help planning a get together! You never answered my text so I called."_

"Text? What text?" I took the phone from my ear and scrolled through my messages, "Oh. That text."

 _"Yeah! So will you help?"_

"I'm in the middle of training idiot!"

 _"Afterwards?"_

"Get Krory to help! He likes this crap more than me." I grumbled.

 _"Oh c'mon! I'm sure Lenalee will be thankful!" I could practically hear the shit eating grin on his face._

"Sh-shut it! Ugh, fine." _  
_

 _"Yas! I'll text you details later."_

"Kanda! We're about to start pracitcing with swords now!" Sensei called out.

"I gotta go, bean sprout."

 _"MY NAME IS ALLEN!"_

*click* I hung up on him and grinned at not having to hear his voice for now.


	3. Chapter 3

Allen had texted me again today, even after I ignored the message he sent yesterday.

"I really wanna go..." I stared down at my phone and reread the text for the 7th time.

 _'We're all meeting up at Jerry's cafe downtown at 2 this afternoon. We'd all really appreciate it if you could make it.'_

That's when I decided, I would behave all day and finish up everything early, then sneak out a window while Gramps is running errands later.

I strode out of my room and began discussing today's events with Gramps.

The day went by agonizingly slow as I studied over the script for my temporary part in Criminal Minds as a background police officer.

Eventually 1:30 rolled around, and Gramps told me he was going out to run some errands.

"Ok, See you when you get back! Have fun!" I said a little too cheerily.

 _'I know I will!'_ I thought as he waved goodbye and walked out the door. As soon as it was pulled shut I ran to my room and slid the window open.

A couple minutes later I had gotten changed out of my pajamas and walked over to the window. I was sitting on it with a leg over and outside.

"What exactly do you think you're doing!?" I heard gramps call to me from the doorway.

"Oh...Uh, back so soon?" I laughed nervously.

"I forgot my car keys...exactly where were you going?" He narrowed his eyes into a glare.

"N-no where! Uh, I was wanting some coffee!"

"It's 1:45 in the afternoon and you're halfway through a window..." He spoke in a dangerous monotone.

"Well, ya see-"

"You were sneaking out to see those childhood acquaintances of yours, weren't you?"

"Of course I wasn't!" I spoke quickly, "My acting career is very important, right?"

"Exactly right" He thumped me over the head and I fell back into the room.

"Ouch! You're ornery in your old age!" That earned me another thwack to the head.

After a long lecture about the importance of my acting career the old panda locked the window in my room.

"Looks like my errands will have to wait for another day" He sighed and walked out of the room and I followed.

"Uh...what are you doing?"

"Locking all the windows so that you can't make another attempt at escaping. In other words, babysitting my idiot 20 year old grandson."

He walked around the house locking the rest of the windows, and I could of sworn I heard him mumble something along the lines of, "Raise him for us, they said. It'll be fun, they said! Fun my old wrinkled ass."

Gramps had me waiting on him hand and foot as punishment. And when I say hand and foot, I mean it literally. I was currently rubbing his gross old person feet.

"This is cruel and unusual!" I whined, but he just kicked me.

It was then that I remembered...foot massages put him to sleep! So I suffered through it and soon he was snoring.

"Psht, old people and their naps!" I ran to my room and saw it was 3:30.

"Shit, hopefully they're still there!" I picked the lock on my window and hopped out, crash landing in a bush.

* * *

"I missed you guys so much!" Lena spoke happily, laughing once she caught sight of Allen and Kanda glaring.

"Talk about sexual tension!" I smirked and their faces went pale.

"Oh! How long have you two been together?" Miranda asked in shock, but smiled none the less.

"WE'RE NOT DATING!" Kanda yelled, clearly furious with me.

"I'M NOT GAY!" Allen cried out, face flushed.

"Speaking of dating, you two sure seem friendly! With all the tagging each other on facebook." Lena grinned at Miranda and Krory.

They both blushed and before they could answer, "I freakin' knew it! You guys were always close when we were younger." I grinned at them, and everyone began congratulating the two.

"Sorry that Lavi couldn't make it, Hoshi. He's so random with when he talks to me." Allen sighed in defeat.

I frowned and opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted.

"WHAT CAN I GET YOU LOVELIES TO EAT!? Oh, who are your friends Allen?"

"Holy mother-!" I jumped a bit at the sudden voice behind me.

"Oh, these are my friends from back before I lived here Jerry. Hoshi and Lenalee, meet Jerry! He's an awesome cook." Allen smiled up at the tan skinned man.

"Aww thanks Allen~! And yes, this is my cafe! So what can I get you guys?"

Allen started listing off foods, at least 6 different dishes, so he was probably ordering for everyone.

He turned to us with a toothy grin, "So what are you guys gonna get?"

"You eat so much..." Krory looked queezy at the thought of someone eating so much.

"You HAVE to tell me how you stay so skinny!" Lena giggled.

"I guess a very active metabolism and my demonic guardian's trainging." He laughed a bit.

After the explanation Kanda ordered a coffee with a small amount of sugar, Krory ordered a sundae for himself and said he'd share with Miranda, I ordered a chocolate glazed donut and french vanilla coffee with extra cream, and Lena ordered a slice of red velvet cake.

"Is that all then?" Jerry smiled and finished writing down the ordered food.

"Oh! I forgot to ask for cheese fries!" Allen added.

"Are you even human?" Kanda asked casually.

Before long the food came out and Allen was all but shoving food in his mouth with his hands. Kanda rolled his eyes and took a sip from his coffee.

I took a sip from my own coffee "Oh wow, this is really good!" Lena nodded in agreement as she took another bite of her cake.

We finished our food and conversed more here and there between bites.

"Well I have to be up early tomorrow, but we should all get together again soon if possible!" I smiled as Lena and I stood from the table.

"Of course!" Three of the group answered followed by a "I guess."

* * *

I finally arrived at Jerry's cafe, and I was exhausted from running nearly the entire 20 minutes.

I bent over a bit, hands on my knees as I stopped to catch my breath.

"Oh! Lavi, what can I get you? You want your usual caramel macchiato?" I heard Jerry ask.

"Jerry! Are Allen and-?"

"Sorry Lavi, you missed them by about 15 minutes." He smiled apologetically.

"Damn it! Snuck out for nothing!" I sighed in disappointment.

"So how about that fancy drink of yours?" He pat my shoulder.

"Might as well if I'm here." I smiled, but it was a sad smile.


End file.
